BY Advocate Contributors

December 11 2009 7:35 PM ET

In terms of out characters, what’s going on with Marc and his love life? Was his recent Bahamian fling with a Mode staffer the start of a beautiful, or should I say Ugly relationship?It’s the start of something. That one’s gonna be quite a needy quote-unquote boyfriend. [Laughs] It’s actually really funny because he’s being played by [series regular] Becki Newton’s brother [actor Matt Newton]. He’s on the episode that we come back with, episode ten on January 6.

In the past, you’ve had some fabulous guest stars on the show, including pop star Shakira, who appeared last week. Are there are any dream guest stars you’re still gunning to get?Man, the dream guest stars are always those people like ... Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep. But it’s not likely to happen.Oooh, maybe Miranda Priestly could drop by the Mode office.Exactly. It’d be great to have Miranda meet Wilhelmina.

During the first year or two of the show, was there a particular story idea you avoided out of fear it could mean “jumping the shark?”At one point early on we wanted to take Betty’s braces off for an episode but were told not to do that. I think, at this point, if we don’t get them off soon, we’ll be closer to jumping the shark because it’s getting to the point where the fun of it and the iconic nature of the braces are now getting in the way of reality. But in terms of jumping the shark, we’ve had creative ups and downs. There’s always shark-jumping throughout any series. You have stories that don’t work out as you hoped they would. The test is ... can the show come back from that? I think we’ve been really fortunate this year in terms of bouncing back. At a certain point in the second year, I think things got a little insane. [Laughs] The heart of the show got a bit sidetracked, and it took a while to get back on track. I think we’re there now. Everything feels like it’s coming together in a really nice way.Speaking of heart, Betty and Daniel exchanged a little unintended kiss this season. Is there any chance they might be finally headed for romance?I’ve gone back and forth in my head over it. At this point, nothing is out of the realm of possibility.

And tell me Justin doesn’t have some kind of crush on the adorable Marc ...We don’t want to go there. [Laughs] I think the idea of Justin having the older brother he wishes he had is interesting. Certainly, anyone can read into their relationship what they want, but to sexualize that is certainly neither the intention nor the desire. Plus the last thing we need for the show right now is a relationship between a 15-year-old and this older guy. [Laughs]

Betty recently satirized a certain controversial, celebrity-endorsed “religion.” Did you get any late-night, heavy-breathing phone calls because of it?No. I think they’ve been bashed so often in the past couple years, they really can’t come after us. I honestly think we’re the least of their problems.

At this point in the show’s run, does the studio still give you notes, or do you pretty much have creative carte blanche?There are always notes and it’s still a process. But we’re much more on the same page now than we’ve been at times. Sure there’s stuff we’ll disagree on or collaborate on to find a compromise for some things. But it’s a good relationship. They’ve been very supportive, and the move to Wednesday night is a great show of that.

Betty has always been full of surprise castings and story lines. Any surprises you want to give away from an upcoming episode?Well, we have an upcoming episode where Wilhelmina discovers she has a drag queen impersonator. He’s actually going to be played by Chris Williams, Vanessa’s brother. He’s been in a lot of things, including Curb Your Enthusiasm, where he was “Krazee-Eyez Killa.” [Laughs] It’s a really fun episode.

Finally, you broke into the industry with your script for the smart and campy horror film Urban Legend. Any plans to return to writing movies after Betty wraps?I definitely want to return to it. I just have not had the time in the past couple years. But I’ve got a couple of ideas that I’m working on. I want to be able to get back into that world and try and hopefully balance out the two.